Pitcher

UC Irvine sophomore pitcher Andrew Thurman, who won six straight starts in Big West Conference play, including a no-hitter has been named first-team all-conference by coaches. UCI senior shortstop D.J. Crumlich was named Defensive Player of the Year in the conference. He joined senior teammate Christian Ramirez as a second-team selection. Thurman, who no-hit Long Beach State on April 20, took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Cal State Fullerton six days before. He finished 8-3, including a 6-2 mark in eight conference starts, and had a 2.66 earned-run average for the season.

The KidWorks Foundation For Success Luncheon, which featured keynote speaker Jim Abbott, raised $550,000 net Nov. 14 at the Santa Ana Double Tree Hotel. Abbott, a former Major League Baseball pitcher and a Newport Beach resident, delivered an inspirational message to a crowd that included business leaders, civic servants, educators and sports celebrities. Pat and Paula Donahue were credited for underwriting of the event. Funds raised support educational enrichment for children of Central Santa Ana who live in neighborhoods that has a presence of gangs.

The losses tend to add up for the Newport Harbor High softball team. The Sailors have lost 42 straight Sunset League games since 2007. Newport Harbor had no seniors last year, but this year's squad still lost several key players. With odds appearing to be stacked against the team, one person who does not panic is junior pitcher Hattie Marshall. In fact, she has a football analogy ready to go for the Sailors' situation. "When you lose a big part of your team, you need other people to step up," said Marshall, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week.

COSTA MESA - A team's first loss in a season can be telling. But even more revealing can be how the squad bounces back. Estancia High's baseball team is forced to find out after falling, 7-0, to La Puente Nogales (4-0) in a Costa Mesa Division semifinal of the Newport Elks Tournament Wednesday. Eagles Coach Nate Goellrich said his team displayed a lack of intensity and came out flat. That didn't help Estancia as it faced the Nobles' No. 1 pitcher Erik Gonzalez. The San Diego State-bound senior and returning Valle Vista League Player of the Year baffled the Eagles with a complete-game three-hit shutout that came with 10 strikeouts.

Estancia High senior Kelly Hinkle said her softball pitching three years ago was "bad. " Eagles assistant coach "Papa" Joe Salcido put it more bluntly, saying that Hinkle "couldn't pitch a lick" as a freshman. It wasn't totally unexpected. She had only began playing softball two years before that, starting as an outfielder. When Hinkle volunteered to pitch in her freshman year, it started off as just an inning or two per game. She couldn't really find the strike zone. "She was walking an average of 12, 13 players a game," said Salcido, who couldn't blame Hinkle for this.

The ball smacked off the bat and fired right toward Liam Ogburn, the Newport Harbor High pitcher. He had no time to move away from the danger. He could only react to the damage. Boom! The ball pounded at his right foot. It wouldn't be a surprise if he had fallen and grimaced in pain. But no. Instead he made it seem as if nothing had hit him. His only concern was making the out. He did. He found the ball, picked it up and threw out the runner. He helped the Sailors win their season opener, 6-0, against Los Angeles Cathedral Thursday by making a play that came from his father's advice.

The Dodgers used solid pitching and timely defense to defeat the Giants, 8-2, in Newport Harbor Baseball Association Bronco Division action. Dodger pitcher Danny Moskovits went three innings, as he faced 10 batters, struck out six and allowed no earned runs. John Swift, another Dodger pitcher, followed that up with another shutout inning and Brandon Davis also helped at the mound. R.J. D'Cruz closed out the game striking out the final three batters he faced in his only inning of work.

Sage Hill School senior pitcher Zach Friedrichs got far worse than he deserved in the Lightning's 3-2 baseball loss to visiting Western Christian in the first round of the Sage Hill Spring Tournament Wednesday. Friedrichs pitched a complete-game three-hitter and walked none, but was victimized by six Sage Hill errors that led to three unearned runs. Friedrichs also went 2 for 2 with a double and drove in both runs for the Lightning (6-5-1), which plays Liberty Christian Friday at noon in a consolation semifinal.

Did I have a premonition that our lives would somehow intersect? Not really. I remember him first in 1957 as a pitcher for my favorite baseball team, the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. That was the year before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and stole my heart. Though we ended up knowing of one another for more than 30 years, I'm not sure we ever spoke. I may have said, "Hey, coach," when I encountered him in the football press box at Orange Coast College. Given half a chance, we might have become good friends.

Judd Fryslie didn’t really think he’d be a softball coach again. Fryslie’s sport is basketball, and he has been at Estancia since he became assistant for former boys’ basketball coach Tim O’Brien in 1987. Fryslie moved to South Dakota in 1994, and it was there that he was softball coach for his two daughters, Marlena and Korina, who went on to play collegiately for South Dakota State and Mercer University (Ga.), respectively. But Fryslie moved back to the area in 2001, and now he and Estancia girls’ basketball coach Tommy Rausch are heading up the Eagles’ softball program.

Orange Coast College sophomores Cody Nulph, David Hill and Jacob Hill top 10 Pirates named All-Orange Empire Conference in baseball after helping OCC earn a share of the conference title and a No. 1 seed in the Southern California playoffs. Nulph, a shortstop bound for Auburn University, is the Player of the Year while the Hills, identical twins bound for the University of San Diego, share Pitcher of the Year laurels. OCC's John Altobelli shares Coach of the Year honors the fifth time he has been so honored.

How could this be? Shaun Vetrovec, the standout pitcher for Newport Harbor High's baseball team, became stronger as the innings wore on. In the seventh inning, the pitcher bound for UCI Irvine appeared at his best, determined to be a big reason the Sailors were able to earn a much-needed Sunset League win. Vetrovec delivered. His complete-game gem, that featured 11 strikeouts, two walks and three hits, helped the Tars score a 3-1 victory against Edison at Newport Harbor on Friday.

Sophomore went up against sophomore with one out, the bases loaded and the score tied, 4-4. This wasn't necessarily a play that defined young players pitcher Connor Brown of Estancia High and Evan Larsen of Corona del Mar. It actually turned out being a bit anticlimactic as a pass ball became the final play when Nick Premer scored to give CdM a 5-4 victory in a Beach Pit Classic game at CdM Monday. But both players, Larsen's a pitcher too, made plays throughout the game that caused their coaches to continue to be excited about their respective futures.

A baseball adage as old as wool uniforms states that the breaks of the game, the highs and lows, the hot and cold stretches, all even out over the course of a season. UC Irvine junior first baseman Connor Spencer can, thank goodness, finally attest to just that. After beginning the season hitless in his first 19 at-bats, the 2013 Big West Conference batting champion has righted himself. He is 11 for 16 over his last four games, including a two-for-four performance Saturday to lead the Anteaters to a 4-2 win over visiting UC Riverside.

The food truck pulled up an hour before the first pitch at Sage Hill School. The cook started up the grill right away inside the truck on Friday. St. Margaret's bats never caught on fire for the first six innings, and pitcher Brett Super was the reason why. The burger truck parked near the field was about to name a menu item after Super. The "Super Burger" sounded about right after the freshman right-hander went into the seventh with a no-hitter. In the seventh, Super lost the no-hitter and then the game.

Shaun Vetrovec's game ended on Friday, and he joined the rest of his Newport Harbor High teammates on the bus. They waited for their coach, Evan Chalmers, to wrap up interviews. Unlike most of the Sailors, Vetrovec had a long weekend ahead of him, filled with more baseball. Vetrovec planned to head out to Tempe, Ariz., with his father Bob later that night to catch a couple of spring training games. For the past seven years, Vetrovec and his dad have made the road trip to watch the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim before the season starts.

Perfection is not a matter of Andrew Morales' concern, though his record continues to assert otherwise. Coming off his only shaky outing of the season, and arguably his career, the UC Irvine senior right-hander provided a concise and commanding reminder of just how good he has been for the Anteaters on Friday night. His complete-game two-hitter helped the hosts defeat Grand Canyon, 2-0, in the first of a three-game nonconference series at Anteater Ballpark. Morales, who is 4-0 this season and 14-0 in his career at UCI after transferring from Rio Hondo Community College, where he was merely 21-1, struck out 10, induced nine groundouts and threw just 96 pitches to send the 467 in attendance home after just one hour, 49 minutes.

Estancia High senior Kelly Hinkle said her softball pitching three years ago was "bad. " Eagles assistant coach "Papa" Joe Salcido put it more bluntly, saying that Hinkle "couldn't pitch a lick" as a freshman. It wasn't totally unexpected. She had only began playing softball two years before that, starting as an outfielder. When Hinkle volunteered to pitch in her freshman year, it started off as just an inning or two per game. She couldn't really find the strike zone. "She was walking an average of 12, 13 players a game," said Salcido, who couldn't blame Hinkle for this.

Did I have a premonition that our lives would somehow intersect? Not really. I remember him first in 1957 as a pitcher for my favorite baseball team, the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. That was the year before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and stole my heart. Though we ended up knowing of one another for more than 30 years, I'm not sure we ever spoke. I may have said, "Hey, coach," when I encountered him in the football press box at Orange Coast College. Given half a chance, we might have become good friends.

The ball smacked off the bat and fired right toward Liam Ogburn, the Newport Harbor High pitcher. He had no time to move away from the danger. He could only react to the damage. Boom! The ball pounded at his right foot. It wouldn't be a surprise if he had fallen and grimaced in pain. But no. Instead he made it seem as if nothing had hit him. His only concern was making the out. He did. He found the ball, picked it up and threw out the runner. He helped the Sailors win their season opener, 6-0, against Los Angeles Cathedral Thursday by making a play that came from his father's advice.